Assignment 1
Communication Inhibitors
Please note that your final paper in WRTG 394 is a
research-based report. The work you do for
this first writing assignment might lead to an excellent
topic on which to write your final paper.
Overview:
For this assignment, you are asked to collect real-life
examples of barriers (inhibitors) to
communication that occur in your work or community environment.
The examples of
communication barriers that you collect can be from
documents, conversations (face-to-face or
digital), email messages, or meetings.
This assignment consists of four parts:
Part I:
Think about your work or community and come up with 3-4
real-life examples of barriers
(inhibitors) to written and verbal communication that occur
in that environment. The
communication examples you come up with can be from
documents, conversations (face-to-face
or digital), emails, or meetings.
Then write one or two detailed paragraphs of 100-125 words
each in which you describe the
following:
? your workplace or community setting you
have chosen to analyze
? the communication barriers in that
setting that you are describing
? other details you think might be
relevant to the context
Various types of communication inhibitors, and examples of
them, can be found in the four
articles that are available to you through eReserves. These
communication barriers include but
are not limited to the following:
connotative meanings of words organizational barriers
personal censors and filters nonverbal barriers
noise (real and semantic) competitive barriers
audience expectations lack of writing purpose, organization,
support or clarity
communication structure (or lack of) artificial voice
direction of communication forced collaboration
physical barriers faulty level of technicality
cultural barriers faulty level of formality
experiential barriers faulty direction
perceptual barriers poor timing
motivational barriers excessive subjectivity
emotional barriers linguistic barriers
Part II:
After you’ve collected at least 3-4 communication barriers
and have identified the inhibitors they
represent, define the inhibitors in a bulleted list. The
definition you provide should identify the
general characteristics of the inhibitor and how it works to
impede communication. The
definitions should not mention your specific work
environment.
Please consult the video on this assignment and the two
sample student submissions to this
assignment in order to see a demonstration on how this part
might be written.
Part III:
Analyze these 3-4 communication inhibitors as they apply to
your workplace or community
environment. List them in a table with three columns:
? the communication example either
as a direct quote or paraphrase
? the name of the inhibitor(s) at work in
the sample
? a justification of your selection of
the inhibitor(s)
Again, please consult the video on this assignment and the
two sample student submissions
to this assignment in order to see a demonstration on how
this part might be written.
Part IV:
Using a scale of 1 to 100 (with a score of 75 considered
average), rank your organization’s
communication effectiveness. Justify and explain the score
you award. Your justification
should be one to two paragraphs, about 175-250 words total.
Please continue to the next page for additional
instructions.
Reading Material to Draw Upon for this Assignment:
For this assignment, you will want to draw on the following
reading materials about
communication inhibitors in the eReserves area of LEO.
? “10 Barriers to Communication”
? “Communication Barriers”
? “Physical Barriers in Communication”
? “The Barriers to Effective
Communication”
The items are available as eReserves in our class in LEO.
You can access the articles by taking the following steps:
? click Content
? select Class Resources
? select eReserves
? select the icon for eReserves in the
middle of your page.
? in the list of items that
appears, locate the articles and download them
Format:
Your text should be single-spaced.
The following page has a template to use in completing this
assignment.
I. Description of community setting, including a description
of the 3-4
communication inhibitors that occur in that setting.
II. Definitions of the 3-4 inhibitors:
III. Table of the 3-4 communication samples and the
inhibitors they represent:
The communication
example either as a direct
quote or paraphrase
The name of the inhibitor(s)
that the example represents
A justification of your
selection of the inhibitor
IV. Short paragraph rating the organization’s communication
effectiveness on a
scale of 1 to 100 and justifying the ranking:
Assignment Rubric:
Description of workplace or
community setting Excellent Good Fair
Needs
improveme
nt
Does not
pass
Describes the workplace or
community setting
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Describes the communication in
that setting
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Provides other relevant details 5 points 4 points 3 points 2
points 1 point
Demonstrates accurate grammar
and punctuation
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Definitions of communication
inhibitors Excellent Good Fair
Needs
improveme
nt
Does not
pass
Definitions provide general
characteristics
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Definitions show how the inhibitor
impedes communication
10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 point
Definitions demonstrate parallel
structure (e.g, all full sentences, all
infinitive phrases, etc.)
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 0 points
Table of communication samples Excellent Good Fair
Needs
improveme
nt
Does not
pass
3-4 communication examples are
given with direct quote or
paraphrase
10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points
The name of the inhibitor is given
for each example
10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points
The justification is provided for the
selection of each inhibitor
10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points
Paragraph that rates the
organization’s communication and
effectiveness and justifies the
ranking
Excellent Good Fair
Needs
improveme
nt
Does not
pass
Provides the ranking 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5
points
Justifies the ranking 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5
points
Demonstrates accurate grammar
and punctuation
10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points
Overall Score Excellent
90 or more
Good
80 or more
Fair
70 or more
Needs
Improvem
ent
60 or more
Does not
pass
0 or more
